along with the national anthem, and god bless america. When I was that age, I thought that it was some "official" song.
As I grew up, I learned the story of Woody Guthrie, and many of the songs that he wrote and sung. I learned of Pete Seeger, a close friend of Woody's and member of the Almanac Singers.
Fast forward to the 80s, when I moved into the Hudson Valley, and got involved with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, whose mission was to clean up the Hudson River. This organization was started by Seeger. I got involved with the Beacon Sloop Club, an offshoot of Clearwater, whose responsibility was the river around Beacon-Newburgh, and nearby. Pete lived in nearby Dutchess Junction. When I became a Woody Sailor, I sailed up and down the river with Pete, and others, singing songs, and educating people on how to keep the environment clean.
I learned an awful lot from Pete, and more from his wife Toshi. They became family to me. I have to credit them for my ongoing activism, as well as other things.
Later I learned that Pete had sung at Woody's death bed, along with other folkies. One of the songs was This Land Is Your Land.
The last three verses are not always sung, and not on the recordings, that Pete vowed to sing every time he sung it, and he did.
Here are the entire lyrics as Woody wrote them:
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Remember to sing the last three verses. They are the most moving ones, and as far as I am concerned, the most important ones.
Woody, Pete and Toshi shall live on forever.
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